KRG: Referendum results not issued by electoral commission 'baseless'

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) says that results released by political parties from Monday’s independence are baseless and that final results are yet to come from the election commission.

Political parties sent monitors to polling stations across the region on Monday to watch the election referendum alongside international observers.

The statement comes after the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) election department released some figures of the referendum on Tuesday.

"For official results, wait for Commission’s official announcement," read the KRG statement.

The electoral commission has stated it would announce the results within 72 hours of the polls closing at 7 p.m. on Monday.

The KRG advises to avoid "any report that is allegedly sourced to Kurdistan political parties."

According to the commission said that the voter turnout was 72 percent. Of 4,581,255 eligible voters, 3,305,925 cast ballots, Shirwan Zirar, commission spokesperson said in a press conference on Monday evening.

President Masoud Barzani declared victory of the ‘Yes’ campaign in a speech on Tuesday, saying: “You, the people of Kurdistan, you did not allow your will to be broken, and now, after your yes-vote that was a yes for independence and no to Anfal, chemical attacks and another genocide, we have entered a new stage.”